


Speechless

by Goldy



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-15
Updated: 2013-07-15
Packaged: 2017-12-20 05:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/883350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldy/pseuds/Goldy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jackie hosts a charity function and the Doctor blows holes in her backyard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Speechless

“Ooh, dip!” said the Doctor, dodging around Jackie and making a beeline for the plastic container sitting on the counter.

Rose looked up from the morning’s newspaper with some concern.

He had the cover off and one finger halfway inside the container before Jackie realized what he was doing. “Oi!” she said. She grabbed the paper from Rose’s hands, rolled it up, and then swatted him on the back of the head. “Fingers out of the dip.”

The Doctor sent her a guilty look and then glanced back down at the dip as if calculating his chances of getting in a mouthful before Jackie did him serious harm. Finally, he sighed and replaced the container’s lid, shooting it one last look before shoving his hands in his pockets and collapsing into the vacant seat next to Rose.

“Why are we here again?” he said, now eyeing the plastic bag that Jackie was unpacking with interest.

Rose shrugged. “I said, ‘Mum’s having a charity function tonight and we’re invited,’ and then you said, ‘Ah, brilliant, I can work on closing up that rift in the back garden.’”

The Doctor shot her a Look. Jackie paused over the plastic bag, her gaze suspicious. “What rift in the back garden?”

“The Doctor sort of found... this thing last time he was here,” Rose said, waving her hand. “He picked up readings on the sonic screwdriver.”

“What sorts of readings?”

“Nothing harmful,” said the Doctor quickly. “Well... not that I’ve been able to calculate, anyway. It’s probably just leftover activity from the Void. Though there is a very, very small chance it could be a temporal rift in space.”

“And that’s bad?” Jackie said.

“Could be,” said the Doctor. Then he grinned. “That’s what I’m here to find out!”

Rose coughed “charity function” into her hands.

The Doctor’s grin didn’t slip. “And to attend your charity function, of course. What better way to spend an evening than have my hands slapped out of food I can’t eat and making boring chit-chat with Vitex’s Board of Directors? Lovely.”

Jackie folded her arms over her chest. “If anything happens—”

The Doctor changed his strategy. “Jackie, listen, I’m going to check it out, that’s all. I promise you, I just want to make sure that you and your family are safe.”

He looked so sincere that Rose could tell Jackie was convinced. She shook her head and mouthed, “‘Cos you’re bored” in his direction.

The Doctor sent her a mock offended look and then sprung to his feet. “Better get to it, then!” he said cheerfully. “Shouldn’t take too long to get this sorted out.”

He glanced back at Rose with a questioning look when she didn’t follow him.

“I’m not going with you,” Rose said. The Doctor looked so utterly baffled at this pronouncement that she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. “I’ve got to change.”

He still looked confused. “Change?”

“For the _party_.”

“But...” he said, glancing around the kitchen like he was looking for a particularly elusive answer, “Rose, that’s not for another _three hours_.”

“Three hours?” Jackie screeched from the fridge. “That’s it?” She slammed the fridge door shut and then ran out of the kitchen. “PETE TYLER, WHERE’S THAT COOK OF YOURS?”

The Doctor gazed at Jackie’s retreating back and then eyed the dip still sitting on the counter. Rose cleared her throat. “She’s got eyes in the back of her head. I wouldn’t try anything.”

The Doctor frowned and then dug around in his pockets. He made a face and then grinned, pulling out a banana. “Aha! I knew I had that in here.” He beamed down proudly at the banana and then began peeling it. “Good source of potassium.”

Rose grinned back at him. “Prepared for anything, are we?”

“That’s me,” he said before taking a bite.

Rose hopped to her feet. “Be _careful_ out there. If it is a rift, don’t go making it bigger, yeah?” she paused. “At least, not without me around.”

The Doctor mumbled something unintelligible around the banana and smiled at her, which Rose took to be affirmation.

“Party starts at eight. I know it’s not really your thing, but it’s important to Mum, and...”

The Doctor swallowed. “I’ll be there.”

Rose nodded. Then she leaned in and pressed her lips to his. The Doctor stilled at her touch and then deepened the kiss, moving closer to her. They only broke apart when they heard Jackie re-enter the kitchen.

“Oh _honestly_ ,” she mumbled, “it’s been _six months_. World isn’t going to end if you stop for air.”

“You never know, Jackie,” the Doctor said seriously. Then he tapped Rose on the nose. “I’ll see you later.”

“You taste like bananas,” she called after him.

He turned around to give her a wave and a wink, and Rose caught her mother smiling fondly at her out of the corner of her eye.

****

As much as Rose loved saving the world and tracking down temporal rifts with the Doctor, sometimes it was nice to get pampered. Jackie had made some calls, and while the catering company prepared the Tyler mansion for guests, they got their hair and nails done. Then she slipped into a black dress with thin straps and slid on a pair of heels.

She quickly applied some makeup and stood back to admire herself. Her hair fell in soft curls at her shoulders and her freshly painted nails glinted in the light.

She felt... weird. She couldn’t stop thinking that the outfit would not be practical if she and the Doctor suddenly had to make a break for it ( _always_ a relevant consideration in their lives). Still, it was only for one night, and it was fun to relax and get dressed-up for a change. Besides, it was for charity. Not to mention the look on the Doctor’s face when he saw her.

With that thought in mind, she headed towards the party. A number of guests had all ready arrived, and Jackie was in full hostess mode as she flitted from group to group, talking loudly about the canapés and commenting on the decorations. There was a live band playing soft music in the corner, and a few couples swayed gently together in the middle of the floor. It was, Rose reflected, an awful lot of money being spent on what was supposedly a charity event—but she reckoned that was just how the wealthy tended to do things.

She caught sight of her dad near the bar, all ready deep in conversation with Priscilla Brown, president of Vitex’s Board of Directors. He gave her a fond smile and a wave. Rose waved back and then returned to scanning the crowd.

She didn’t think the Doctor would miss it on purpose, but she knew better than anyone how wrapped up he could get when he had his mind focused on something. She tapped her fingers against her sides impatiently—it had only been a few hours, but she missed him all ready.

“Rose?”

She jerked to attention, eyes jumping to the speaker of the voice. Right. She couldn’t exactly forget they had other guests just because she was focused on finding the Doctor.

It was Daniel Rubenstein, the son of one of this London’s richest families. He smiled fondly at her, eyes crinkling. “Rose, you look lovely. How are you?”

“I’m good, yeah,” she said, smiling tentatively back at him. “You?”

A year or so after getting trapped in this universe, Jackie decided to play matchmaker with Daniel’s mum. Rose even went out on a few dates with him—more to shut Jackie up than anything else. There wasn’t anything wrong with Daniel. He was good-looking and nice enough, and a few years ago he probably would’ve been Rose’s ideal bloke. But he wasn’t the Doctor.

“Not bad,” said Daniel. “Busy with the family business, but resist a charity event like this one? Never.”

Rose smiled. “Your mum made you come, didn’t she?”

“A little,” said Daniel. “Still, it’s nice to see you again.” He surveyed her up and down in a clearly appreciative manner. “You’re still with that... what’s his name? John fellow?”

“What? Oh! The Doctor,” said Rose. It was still odd to hear people call him anything else. “Yeah, I am.”

“Oh, well,” said Daniel, looking a little disappointed. “Good for you.”

“Thanks,” Rose said. She shifted awkwardly, eyes scanning the room again. Finally she caught sight of the Doctor. He had his back turned to her, and was busy plucking canapés off a moving tray and popping them into his mouth. He was wearing a tux, and she was relieved to find that he was still in one piece. She learned long ago not to trust him when he called something “harmless.”

“It was good seeing you again, Daniel,” Rose said distractedly. “I’ve just got to... go to the loo.”

She ignored his response and headed in the Doctor’s direction, determined to reach him before anyone else could stop her. As if sensing her approach, the Doctor turned around, eyes landing on her immediately. He stilled, canapé hovering in mid-air on the way to his mouth. She watched his jaw go slack and then tighten, eyes growing wider before softening. Then, just as suddenly as he’d stopped, he exploded into motion. He tossed the canapé over his shoulder and then closed the distance between them in a few quick strides.

She smiled at him, feeling her cheeks warm under his gaze. “Hi,” she said softly when he reached her.

He swallowed, and Rose felt her heart beat faster when she realized that she might have actually rendered him speechless. One of his hands came up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear and then he took a step back, still gazing at her.

“You look quite dashing,” Rose said, reaching up to fiddle with his bow-tie before dropping her hand back to her side.

He nodded and then, as if remembering his own vocal chords, managed, “You look... you...” He waved at her and then cleared his throat. “Blimey.”

Rose grinned at him. “Thanks.”

They spent a few moments smiling stupidly at each other before Rose noticed that Daniel was heading her way again. Deciding to head him off, she grabbed the Doctor’s hand and inclined her head.

“Dance with me?”

Without waiting for an answer, she pulled the Doctor out onto the middle of the floor. He looked around uncertainly, but she grabbed his free hand and placed it on her waist. He breathed in sharply at her touch and then relaxed, moving in closer to her.

They danced in silence for a few moments, and then Rose said, “How’s Mum’s back garden?”

He looked completely confused. “What?”

“Temporal rift,” Rose prompted, hiding a laugh. “Was it dangerous?”

“Right,” said the Doctor. He paused to think, eyes never leaving her face. “It was harmless, just like I said.”

“That’s good,” Rose replied.

The Doctor grunted in reply, and didn’t say anything else. She couldn’t believe how still and quiet he was. She was used to the Doctor talking at a million miles a minute, and rushing from one thing to another without taking the time to stop for air. But now he was looking at her... like... like he wanted to drink her in.

She felt her face grow warm again. He moved in closer to her and Rose frowned. Did he just _smell_ her ear? Of all the odd things...

“Doctor,” she said, tugging on his hand. He slowly fixed his gaze back on her face, and she choked back another chuckle at how dazed he still seemed. “C’mon.”

She pulled him away from the dance floor and out of the dining hall, giving guests terse smiles as they walked by. The Doctor followed her silently, but she could sense him shooting confused looks at her back.

Finally, they made it to the hallway where it was far quieter and relatively private. She released the Doctor’s hand and then leaned against the wall, sliding down to the floor. The Doctor followed her a moment later.

“What’s this, then?” he said, bumping her shoulder with his.

He was beginning to sound more like himself. Rose shrugged and then kicked off her shoes. “My feet were _killing_ me.”

He gave a short bark of laughter and then wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him, and his fingers played with the strap of her dress, brushing back and forth against the skin of her shoulder.

He glanced at where her high-heeled shoes now rested in the middle of the floor. “Not exactly the most practical pair of footwear, are they?”

“I suppose not. But they made my toenails look pretty.” Rose wriggled her red toenails and then glanced at the Doctor. He looked amused.

“All right,” he said, “give them here.”

She grinned happily and then turned her body so that she could rest her feet on his lap. She sighed in contentment when his fingers pressed against her heels and she leaned her head against the wall, gazing at him quietly while he massaged her feet.

She could understand why he got so quiet before. Their lives moved so quickly that sometimes it was nice to just be able to _look_ at him and remind herself that he really was there with her. Of course, the tux he was wearing didn’t exactly hurt things either.

“Rose? Rose, are you back there?”

Rose jerked at the sound of Jackie’s voice, and the Doctor’s hands paused against her feet.

“We’re over here!” Rose called. She shifted her legs off the Doctor’s lap and then reached for her shoes. “We’re coming back out.”

Jackie rounded the corner, hands on her hips. “Why on earth is there a hole in the middle of my petunia garden?”

Rose raised her eyebrows and then turned around to stare at the Doctor. He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “Um... I didn’t mention that?”

“You said it was nothing!” said Jackie. “You said not to worry about it—that you just wanted to make sure we were _safe_ —”

“Well, I _did_ ,” said the Doctor. “Turns out, the only way to do that was...” he glanced at Jackie’s face and evidently decided not to follow that line of thought. “I’ll fix it tomorrow, I promise. _And_ I picked up some odd readings on the sonic screwdriver from under the deck, so I’ll want to have a look at that, too.”

Jackie looked like she didn’t quite know what to say to that. Instead she turned her gaze back to Rose. “Daniel was such a nice normal bloke.” To the Doctor, she said, “If I lose my back deck tomorrow, I’m going to kill you.”

The Doctor gave her a bright, innocent smile and then Jackie swept around and headed back to the party.

“I guess we should be getting back,” Rose said. She turned to the Doctor, but he was looking at her oddly.

“Who’s Daniel?”

Instead of answering, she rested her chin on his shoulder and widened her eyes. “Come dance with me?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. She watched him swallow heavily and then he closed his mouth. Rose smiled against his shoulder. She had to admit, she quite liked this new speechless version of him. 


End file.
